CHEDWORTH
PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 17th
AUGUST 2011
PRESENT: Mr A Bell, Mr D Broad, Miss L Gallagher, Mr J
King, Mr T Watt and Mrs E Broad (Clerk).
APOLOGIES; Mr G Brister and Mr P Sibbald.
As both the Chairman and Vice Chairman were
absent a Chairman for the meeting had to be elected. It was proposed by Mr Broad and seconded by
Mr King that
Miss Gallagher take
the Chair for the meeting, agreed. Miss
Gallagher then took the Chair.
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES; The
minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on the 18h July 2011 were
agreed and signed as a true record.
It was agreed to bring items 2.5 a & b on Items Arising from
Email forward on the agenda.
Mr Bell and Mr Watt joined the meeting at
this point.
a) Community
Speed Watch Initiative: Mr Musgrave
had attended the meeting at Elkstone on 10th
August. It was agreed to open the
meeting to allow Mr Musgrave to report, which he did. When Council reconvened and after some
discussion, it was proposed from the Chair and seconded by Mr King to write to
the Community Speed Watch Initiative stating that despite extensive effort by
individual Councillors using equipment specially calibrated by the Police, no
evidence of vehicles excessively exceeding the posted speed limits in Chedworth
has ever been found. Police have voiced
the opinion that the current 40mph speed limit on Fields Road is correct and
that any lowering of the speed here would be unenforceable. Chedworth Parish Council has therefore voted
not to take part in this initiative, and have agreed to take the item off the
agenda. However, should any member of
our community produce tangible evidence to show that this has changed then the
Parish Council will of course review the new data laid before them, agreed with
one abstention. The possibility of
extending the 40 mph speed limit around the corner at Denfurlong
was raised but it was agreed not to take any further action on this in line
with the previous discussion. The
Chairman thanked Mr Musgrave for attending the meeting at Elkstone
at short notice, and for taking the time to attend the Parish Council meeting
to report his findings.
b) Improving
Broadband: Mr Aveline
had been invited to attend along with Mr John Scott. It was agreed to open the meeting to allow
the gentlemen to speak. Mr Aveline had undertaken
some research and found that in several areas in the village broadband speeds
were very low. Mr Scott had been
involved with broadband in the village for several years and had been in
contact with a company called gfirst.com to find out how the recently announced
£8m funding for improving broadband speeds in Gloucestershire would be
distributed. When council
Chairman......................................
MINUTES PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
17th AUGUST 2011 Page 2.
reconvened and after some further discussion it was
agreed to ask Mr Aveline and Mr Scott to be joint
Broadband Champions in attempting to get faster speeds to the Fossebridge exchange.
It was unanimously agreed to support this and ask the gentlemen to
report back to the Parish Council.
MAIN MATTERS:
Taking Stock of Chedworth Parish Council:
a) Setting
of a Four Year Plan: Mr King
referred to his previously circulated email
on his initial research into Quality Status and
reported that he would continue with the next actions as listed therein. In Mr Brister's
absence, further discussion was left until the next meeting.
b) Village
Hall Taking Over Playing Field Bookings:
The Clerk reported that the Village Hall Committee had agreed to take
over the booking from the 1st September, thus offering an improved
and streamlined service for customers.
It was agreed to write notifying The Village Hall Committee of the
agreed charges for rental.
c) Reviewing
Standing Orders: In the absence of
the Chairman and Vice-Chairman it was agreed to hold this over to the next
meeting.
d) Re-styling
The Parish Council: It was agreed to hold this over until the
next meeting.
h) How
to get help from the new Parish Council:
Miss Gallagher agreed to circulate her ideas for further discussion at
the next meeting.
Communication between Parish
Council and the Public:
a) Facebook:
Miss Gallagher had set up a page and had received interest in the
project from Villagers. Miss Gallagher
agreed to explore a link between Facebook and Twitter
to post information.
b) The
Parish Council Website: Mr Sibbald had this in hand and would email his findings
around the Councillors. Mr King reported
that he had spoken to the Chedworth Society with Vibrant Village prize money
and they were currently considering several suggestions for use of the prize
money.
c) Communication
with Parishioners Via Email: Mr King had made a suggestion that people
register their interest with the Clerk at the Parish Council email address.
Concern was expressed that there was a limit on the amount of recipients on the
account. Mr Bell reported that he
understood the new website would have a facility to register to receive emails
via an autoresponder. It was agreed that compilation
of an email list would be best left until the new website was activated and
live.
d) Noticeboards
Electoral Notices Not Allowed Notices:
The current notices had not yet been updated to include this. After some discussion Miss Gallagher
undertook to produce a suggested notice for approval which she would then post
on each board.
MATTERS FOR UPDATING AND DISCUSSION:
Footpaths:
a) Mrs
Duggleby Email Dangerous Animal on Footpath: Mr Sibbald had
emailed to say he understood the foal had been
moved. It was agreed to reply to
Chairman...........................................
MINUTES PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
17th AUGUST 2011 Page 3.
Mrs Duggleby
asking if the matter had been sorted to her satisfaction.
b) KCH
22, Footpath below Parsonage House:
Mr Sibbald had emailed to say that repairs
were to be put in hand.
c) Signs
at New Barn Farm: An acknowledgement
had been received from GCC PROW to say this had been referred to Footpath
Officer Mike Barton. It was agreed to
remove this item from the agenda.
d) KCH
44, Footpath near Denfurlong: No response had been received from either Mr Stainforth or Mr Booth.
Mr King agreed to ring both gentlemen regarding this.
Provision of New Tennis Courts:
a) Legal
Issue Regarding the Lease: The
letter, drafted by Mr Brister, had been sent and a
reply had been received from Mr Duggleby stating that
further presentation of the plans for the new courts would be put to the
membership in November. It was agreed to
remove from the agenda at present.
Traffic in Village and Road Matters:
a) Winter
Maintenance & Grit Provision: In
hand with Mr Sibbald.
b) Purchase
of Grit Spreader: The Clerk
reported that she had spoken with our insurers and the Parish Council's
existing public liability insurance would not cover the grit spreading
operation. The insurers suggested that
individual volunteers car insurance should cover the
public liability aspect. Mr King offered
to make enquiries from his insurance company to ascertain what the situation
was.
Defibrillators:
a) Purchase
of the Third Defibrillator: Mr Sibbald had the collection of the money from Mrs Thacker in
hand. The NFU Mutual cheque had been
sent off to the Community Heartbeat Trust.
Items Arising from Email:
a) Youth
Activities Funding Email from CDC:
Mr Broad pointed out that this was a Chedworth Ward project not just
Chedworth Parish and as Ward Councillor he had this in hand.
b) Septic
Tank Information from CDC: Mr Broad
had already included an item about this in the Hill and Valley in June as Ward
Councillor. It was felt to be important
that every household should know about the need to register by 1st
January 2012. It was agreed that as well
as putting information on how to register in the Hill and Valley a flyer should
be produced and delivered door to door around the Village. Miss Gallagher undertook to produce a draft
flyer for approval.
c) Standards
Committee invite to join from CDC:
This was noted. Mr King had carried
out research and had reported back his findings both by email and at the
meeting. Based on the criteria and
perceived value of the posting it was decided that the Parish Council would not
take part.
d) Gloucestershire
Highways Survey: It was not known
whether Mr Sibbald had completed this and it was
agreed to leave on the agenda for the next meeting.
Chairman...........................................
MINUTES PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
17th AUGUST 2011 Page 4.
Roadside Maps: These
had not yet been done by Mr Bell and Mr Sibbald. Mr
Broad offered to ask the Village Hall
Committee to refurbish map by the Village Hall at their next maintenance
session. It was hoped the other maps
would get refurbished soon.
Repair of the Lower End Chapel Wall: This
had just been completed by Mr Chapple. Unfortunately it is not possible to apply for
any walling grant since it has to be done before the work is started.
Cotswold Conservation Board Member
Appointment Notification from CDC: It was noted that Mr Bell had been appointed.
PLANNING:
Applications:
No objection raised
from Chedworth Parish Council
CD 1789/H Fosseleigh
- Garage
CD 0311/S Apple Cottage
Extension.
CD 7478/C Laburnum Cottage Extension and
Alterations
Cotswold District Council Approval:
CD 1430/Y The Oxbyre Extension and Alterations
11/03312/T CONTR Rose Cottage
Tree Works - No consultation.
11/03578/T CONTR Highfield House, Cheap Street Tree Works - No
Consultation.
Mr Bell was concerned that some roadside
hedges and overhanging branches had been extensively cut back recently and had
concerns that in promoting bio-diversity regard should have been given to
cutting hedges at the correct times of the year. It was agreed to write to Gloucestershire
Highways asking them to confirm that this work was undertaken by them and if so
ask them if it would it be possible to notify the Parish Council in advance of any works that are to take
place in future.
FINANCE:
1.
Clerk's Quarterly Telephone and Broadband Contribution £50.50, prop. A
Bell,
sec. T Watt.
2. Bibury (Playing Field Cutting July) £88.80, prop. J King,
sec. T Watt.
3.
GRCC Membership Renewal £25.00, prop. A Bell, sec. T
Watt.
4.
Thames Water £16.13, prop. T Watt, sec. J King.
5. Council
in receipt of £5.38 Part Water reimbursement from HVLTC.
6.
Council in receipt of £150.00 Annual Ground Rent from HVLTC.
Chairman................................................
MINUTES PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
17th AUGUST 2011 Page 5.
CORRESPONDENCE:
GCC Bus Review:
Noted.
GPFA The Playing Field Magazine: Mr
Watt took this.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Items for the Hill and Valley:
Several items were agreed to be included. Miss
Gallagher agreed to write the Parish Council
page in the Hill and Valley for this month.
Free Crime Home Survey from the Police: It
was agreed to include the information in the Hill and Valley.
Mr Broad reported on a recent spate of motor
related thefts in the village where one resident had the front wheels stolen
from his vehicle.
The meeting concluded at 9.12pm.
NEXT MEETING:
Monday 12th September 2011 at 7.30 pm.
Chairman.............................
Date.....................................